Switching Places
by james Thomas
Summary: A prank played on Harry and Ginny by the twins the night before the Yule Ball goes wrong causing them to switch bodies.
1. Chapter 1 - The Curse

Switching Places

 _The night before the Yule Ball, a prank played on Harry and Ginny by the twins goes wrong causing them to switch bodies._

Chapter I – The Curse

Harry Potter was worried. Actually that was nothing new, he had been worried about one thing or another for more than three years since he learned he was a wizard, and a Dark wizard called Voldemort wanted to kill him. By now, he was used to worrying about Voldemort; but tonight he had many other things to worry about.

Nearly two months ago, on Halloween night, his name came out of the Goblet of fire making him a champion in the Tri-Wizard Tournament; that worried him because he hadn't put his name in the goblet. He had been worrying for the past two months about who did put his name in, and why.

A month ago was the first task in the tournament, and he had to get past a dragon to get a clue for the second task. He worried about that from the day he first learned what he had to do until he finally accomplished the task.

For the past month, he worried about the clue he had concerning the second task. He hadn't even been able to figure out how a screeching noise could be a clue, much less actually figure out what the clue means.

For the past few weeks, he was worried about the Yule Ball. He was told, as a champion, he would have to go to a formal dance, with a girl, and dance with her in front of all the other students. He worried about that because he was only fourteen, he never asked a girl for a date before and didn't know how to approach a girl to ask; and if he did get a date, he didn't know how to dance.

For the past two days, since he got up the nerve to finally ask a girl, Parvati Patil, to go with him, he worried that she didn't realize he couldn't dance, that he didn't really want to go to the ball, and because of that, she most likely wouldn't have a good time.

But tonight, tonight he was really worried. Since he asked Parvati to the ball, he noticed that Fred and George Weasley had been watching him constantly; and they were whispering to each other as they watched him. Right now they were watching him and whispering, and he worried they were planning to do something to him.

The Weasley twins were his friends; but they were famous in school for pranking people. Most of their pranks were harmless fun, turning someone's hair green, or someone's face purple for a day. But if they were angry with someone, their pranks of revenge could be nasty.

Tonight, Harry was really, really, worried because he didn't know why they were watching him. He couldn't think of anything he had done to upset the twins; but tomorrow was the Yule Ball, even a minor prank tonight or tomorrow would be highly embarrassing if it hadn't worn off by tomorrow night.

He worried that tomorrow night he was already going to be embarrassed when everyone saw he couldn't dance. If he had to try and dance in front of everyone with a purple face or green hair; or worse, if Parvati backed out of their date because of the twin's prank, he'd die of the embarrassment.

Harry saw Fred get up and leave the common room; George looked at his watch like he was waiting for something. Ten minutes later, George got up and walked over to Harry. He said, "Harry, teammate, champion, friend, could you come out in the hall with me for a minute?"

Harry cautiously asked, "Why?"

George said, "Fred and I have a problem only you can help us with; it will only take a minute and we think you'll learn something important that will help you in the future."

Harry hesitated, he knew the twins wouldn't hurt him, at least not seriously; and if they wanted to prank him, he probably couldn't avoid it. He also knew the more he tried to avoid it, the more serious they would make the prank.

Reluctantly, he followed George into the hall and to the first room on the right. In the room, Fred was waiting with their younger sister Ginny.

Harry asked, "Ginny, do you know what this is all about?"

Ginny answered, "I was going to ask you. Fred was in the hall waiting for me when I came back from the library and said we needed to wait here for George; he never mentioned you."

George said, "It came to our attention Harry, that you insulted our little sister the other day, …"

Fred continued, "… and we think you need to understand how you hurt her feelings."

Harry panicked, if the twins thought he insulted and hurt Ginny, they could be planning a nasty prank on him. He said, "I didn't. I never hurt Ginny, I never would hurt Ginny."

Ginny was staring at the twins, she had no idea of what they were talking about; Harry never did anything to insult her. She had hoped he would ask her to the ball, and he didn't; that did hurt her feelings. But she could live with that, she was going to the ball with Neville anyway.

Before Ginny could say anything, Fred said, "Our source told us she heard Ron tell you to ask Ginny to the Yule Ball; …"

George finished, "… and you said you wouldn't go with her, then you asked Parvati."

Fred said, "We want you to know what you're missing Harry; …"

George looked up and said, "… so, since you are both standing under the mistletoe …"

Fred went on, "… it looks like you're going to have to kiss Ginny …"

George finished, "… and tell her you're sorry."

Ginny yelled, "No he doesn't! You prats got it backward. Ron did say for Harry to ask me to the ball; but I'm the one that said no because I already promised Neville to go with him. Besides, Ron had no business trying to set Harry and me up on a date."

Harry said, "I thought of asking Ginny a week ago, but never did because she's Ron's sister. I didn't think he'd like me asking her; you know how he gets about her since what happened in the Chamber of Secrets."

Ginny's face got all red and again she yelled, "Now you have insulted me Harry; do you think I'm Ron's property? Its bad enough he tries to give me orders. What makes you think that he gets to decide who can ask me for a date and who can't; or whom I can or can't go with?

I'll have you know, if you had the Bollocks to asked me to go to the dance before Neville did, I would have said yes; and Ron could sod off if he didn't like it.

Now, I'm going back to my room. I don't want you to apologize and I certainly don't want to kiss you. If you worry more about Ron's feelings than mine, go kiss him."

Ginny went to move, but couldn't; her feet seemed to be stuck to the floor."

George said, "We're afraid you will have to kiss."

Fred said, "We thought Harry might try to leave; so…"

George went on, "… we put a sticking charm on the floor as part of the plan."

Fred said, "It won't let either of you leave until you kiss."

Ginny pulled her wand and said, "Let me go right now or you'll both be sorry."

Fred and George backed away and Fred said, "Brother, I think we made a mistake; …"

George added, "… and we should go think about what we did before…"

Fred ran from the room and as he went, he said, "… before we end up fighting Bat-bogies."

George was right behind Fred, leaving Ginny and Harry stuck in place.

In the hall, Fred said, "Georgie, what do you think she'll do to us when she learns that after they kiss, the charm will cause her to start picking up Harry's thoughts and feelings?"

George said, "Whatever she plans on doing to us, when she learns Harry can pick up her thoughts and feelings, she'll think of something worse. What made you think it was a good idea to do this knowing each other's feelings spell anyway?"

Fred said, "It was your idea; you found the charm and said Harry should learn how Ginny feels about him."

George said, "You agreed, you thought we could make Ginny happy because if Harry knew how she felt about him, he would start to fancy her."

Fred said, "Maybe the charm won't work; it was fairly complex. If we made a mistake doing the charm and it doesn't make them swap thoughts and feelings, neither of them will know we planned more than just making them kiss."

George said, "Then let's hope we did something wrong; just making them kiss got her mad enough."

Still standing there stuck to the floor, Ginny said, "I'm going to make them pay for this; and you to Potter."

Now Harry turned red, he was angry and said, "What did I do? Ron's the one who said I should go with you; and you're the one that said no. I didn't have any say in the matter; in fact I never said one word."

Ginny glared at him and said, "I told you what you did; you treated me like I'm Ron's property. If you don't like me and didn't want to ask me to the ball, just admit it; you don't have to say you thought of asking me and then hide behind Ron to make an excuse for not asking me."

Harry said, "I do like you Ginny, I always liked you, as a friend; but ..."

She interrupted with, "You like me as a friend; but you like Parvati as a girlfriend, the kind of girlfriend to ask to a ball."

He said, "No, I don't like anyone as a girlfriend; I never even thought of having a girlfriend. Look Ginny, I don't want to go to this ball at all; I never thought of going to any dance. I don't even know how to dance.

But McGonagall is making me go, and making me bring a date. I guess because I don't want to go, I kept putting off asking any girl. I know I won't have any fun; I'll be a terrible date. If I asked you, you would have a lousy time; Parvati is going to have a lousy time."

Ginny said, "So you think you're doing me a favor by not asking me?"

Harry said, "Yeah, I am; you just don't know how I feel about this."

She said, "And you don't know how I feel either."

Harry said, "Okay, so let's agree to disagree. Now, it looks like we have to kiss, or stay stuck here. After we're free, if you want to go hex the crap out of Fred and George, I'm willing to help; so let's get this over, get free, and find them."

She said, "Just remember, I'm only kissing you to get free, and I never kissed a boy before; so when we get out of here, don't go telling other guys I'm a lousy kisser."

Harry said, "Don't worry, I never kissed a girl either; so don't you go telling the girls I'm a lousy kisser. Now let's get this over."

She put her hands behind her back, leaned toward him and closed her eyes. He leaned toward her, put a hand on the side of her head so he could fell where her face was before he closed his eyes. Both of them planned the shortest kiss possible, just enough to get free; but, when their lips touched, a purple light surrounded them and their lips locked together. Five seconds passed before the glow faded and they found they could separate their lips and their feet were free.

Ginny opened her eyes and saw herself as if she was looking into a mirror; she felt strange and said, "What did those gits do?"

Then she realized her voice was different, deeper and she looked down; she was in Harry's clothes; no, she was in Harry's body."

At the same time, Harry opened his eyes and saw his body across from where he was standing; he heard it say in his voice, "What did those gits do?"

He looked down at himself; but it wasn't him, he was looking down at Ginny's body."

They both screamed. Harry said, "What happened to us? I'm in your body and you're in my body."

Ginny said, "I'm not going to hex them, I'm going to kill them. I can't believe they would do a prank like this."

Harry said, "You'll have to get in line. They better be waiting in the hall to reverse it because we can't let everybody see us like this."

Ginny walked Harry's body to the door and looked up and down the hall. She came back and said, "They're gone; what are we going to do?"

Harry said, "We go looking for them and make them switch us back."

Ginny said, "Everyone will laugh at us; people will remember this prank for years. And if the Slytherins hear about it, we'll have to leave school, they'll never leave it go."

Harry said, "We can't let anyone know; you have to act like I do and I'll have to act like you do. It shouldn't be too hard to act like each other for a few minutes while we go to the common room and get them to come back here and reverse the charm."

Ginny said, "What if they're not in the common room?"

Harry said, "We check their dorm room, if they're not there, we sit together in the common room and wait for them to come back. We try not to talk to anyone; but if we have to, you know my friends and I know yours. Just try to act like me and say things like I would say them, I'll try to act and talk like you do."

Ginny said, "Easy enough for me, I can sit and brood in a funk like you do most of the time, ignoring other people and not talking at all; but you will have to be cheerful and talk with everyone that walks by. Do you think you can you be cheerful for an hour or two?"

Harry glared at her and said, "If you felt like I do with people saying you're a cheat and a liar, you wouldn't talk to them either."

Ginny answered, "I never said anything like that about you, I believe you didn't enter the tournament; but you ignore me, and Neville, and the others that believe in you too. You don't know how bad we feel when you treat us like that."

Harry knew she was right but couldn't admit it to her; he just said, "Let's go find Fred and George."

The twins weren't in the common room, so Harry and Ginny went to the sixth year boys' room and found them talking; nobody else was there, so Ginny, in Harry's body with Harry's voice, yelled at them, "Fix us, fix us right now or else I'll Bat-Bogie you to death."

Fred said, "I guess the charm worked, but why is Harry yelling, I figured Ginny would be the one to scream like that; Harry is usually quiet."

George said, "Harry, we just thought if you knew Ginny's thoughts and feelings about you, both of you would be happier."

Harry, in Ginny's body with Ginny's voice, said, "What the bloody hell are you two talking about?"

Fred said, "About our charm that lets both of you know the other's thoughts and feelings."

Ginny, in Harry's body, began laughing uncontrollably, and Harry, in Ginny's body with Ginny's voice, said, "You thought switching our bodies would make us happier? How stupid could you be?"

Fred and George looked at each other and George said, "What do you mean switching bodies?"

Ginny stopped laughing and said, "This is Harry's body, but I'm Ginny; and Harry's in my body. Your stupid prank made us switch bodies."

Fred said, "You're putting us on; you're angry so you decided to prank us back."

Ginny said, "Ask me something Harry couldn't know; something only you two and Ginny would know."

George said, "When Ginny was seven, we took her Harry Potter doll and accidentally ripped its head off; what did Ginny do?"

Ginny said, "I hexed both of you with mum's wand; you were both covered with boils and mum couldn't reverse my spell. After she fixed my doll, the next day, I reversed my hex."

Fred said, "It is Ginny. Georgie, I think we made a big mistake on the switching spell."

Ginny said, "You bet you made a big mistake; now fix it, fix it right now or you'll both wish 'You Know Who' was after you instead of me."

George said, "We don't know how; we found the spell in a book in the restricted section and this was the first time we tried it."

Fred continued, "It wasn't supposed to switch your bodies …"

George went on, "… only make each of you pick up the other's thoughts and feelings."

Harry, with Ginny's voice said, "Why would you want to do such a thing to us?"

Fred said, "Ginny is our favorite sister; and …"

Before he could finish, Ginny interrupted with, "I'm your only sister."

George ignored her interruption and picked right up on Fred's sentence with, "… she wanted to go to the ball with you."

Fred said, "She's fancied you for years."

Ginny yelled, "Shut up you two; isn't switching our bodies embarrassing enough without you telling him my private feelings?"

Harry said, "I'm sorry Ginny, if I knew you wanted to go with me I would have asked you; even though what I told you earlier is true, I think I'm going to be a lousy date.

Did you really have a Harry Potter doll when you were young?"

Ginny screamed, then said, "Fred, George fix us now so I can crawl off to my room and die of embarrassment."

Fred said, "From what we read, you should have just known each other's thoughts and feelings for an hour; then the charm would reverse by itself."

George said, "We'll have to look through the book and see if it gives a counter spell or other way to cancel it."

Ginny said, "Well, what are you waiting for, do it now."

George pointed his wand at Harry's body and said, "Finite __Incantatem." Then he asked, "Well?"

Ginny said, "Nothing, it didn't work."

Fred said, "Maybe we have to do it to both of you at the same time."

He pointed his wand at Ginny's body and said, "On three George. One, two, three."

Together they said, "Finite Incantatem."

Again Ginny said, "Still nothing; you have to try something else; get the book out."

George said, "We don't have the book here, we couldn't take it out….."

Fred added, "… it's in the restricted section, we just copied the spell."

George went on, "We'll go back tomorrow morning and look for a reversal spell …"

Fred finished, "… if you don't automatically return to normal by then."

Ginny asked, "And what are we supposed to do until tomorrow morning?"

Fred said, "Go to sleep, and in the morning …"

George said, "… let us know if nothing has changed."

Ginny said, "I can't go to my room in Harry's body; I think my roommates would notice."

Harry said, "Yeah, even Ron would notice if Ginny's body walked into our room and climbed into my bed."

Fred said, "No problem, Ginny you're in Harry's body, so you sleep in his bed; …"

George finished, "… and Harry, you're in Ginny's body so you sleep in her bed."

Harry said, "You want me to sleep in a room full of thirteen year-old girls running about in their nighties; they may not notice, but I would."

Fred said, "See Harry, your luck has changed already; …"

George said, "… yeah, getting to sleep in a room with four cute scantily clad girls …"

Fred said, "… and you don't even have to say thank you to us."

Ginny said, "Two girls, two of my roommates went home for the holidays, only two besides me were asked to the ball by an older boy."

Harry said, "Do you guys know how embarrassing this is; I'll have to change into Ginny's nightie, the other girls will notice if I try and sleep in these clothes."

Ginny said, "So, I'll have to change into your pajamas and sleep in the same room as my brother and three other boys."

Harry said, "I just thought of something worse; I'll have to use the girls' loo, and there'll be girls around."

Ginny said, "So, I'll have to use the boys' loo."

Then, after she thought about it, she said, "Ewh, ewh, ewh, when you have to use the bog you'll have to wipe my bits. Close your eyes when you do it, and Harry, you better not touch parts of my body for any other reason or enjoy it. And close your eyes when you change clothes too, don't you dare look at my body, or I'll kill you."

Fred and George started laughing until Ginny glared at them and said, "You think this is funny?"

George said, "I was just thinking of the mess he'll make if he has to go on the bog and wipe you bum all with his eyes closed."

Fred said, "And Harry won't just be embarrassed by looking at you body, he'll also see your roommates undress in front of him."

George continued, "Ginny, you'll have to take care of Harry's bodily needs too; and hold his member when you have to cop a wazz."

"Oh for Merlin's sake," Ginny said, "Can it get any worse?"

Harry said, "Yes it can, if we don't return to normal by tomorrow night, you'll have to take Parvati to the ball as your date and dance with her."

Ginny laughed and said, "And you'll have a date with Neville; I wonder if he'll want you to give him a thank you kiss after the dance?"

Harry thought about Neville kissing him and said, "I'll go get my invisibility cloak and the Marauder's Map; we can't wait until tomorrow, you two have to go to the library right now and find that book."


	2. Chapter 2 - Living Another's Life

Chapter II – Living Another's Life

The twins went to the library to get the book and left Harry and Ginny sitting next to each other in the common room. After ten minutes, Ginny said, "Harry stop squirming about, people are looking at you and they'll think there's something wrong with me."

Harry said, "You're body needs to hit the loo; and I don't think it will be able to wait for them to get back."

Ginny said, "Are you sure you can't wait?"

Harry said, "Your bladder is ready to burst; I have to go now."

She said, "Well, be sure to dry my quim thoroughly, I don't need to get a U.T.I. or have my roommates to think I wet my knickers. But don't you dare rub my parts, just pat me dry."

Harry looked at her and said, "I don't have to wipe; I told you I just have to cop a wazz, not a dump. And what's a U.T.I.?"

She said, "Harry, a girl still has to dry herself, but I told you just pat dry real good. If a girl doesn't keep her bits cleaned properly, she can get a U.T.I., or urinary tract infection that can be very painful and make her real sick."

I think the twins will be gone quite a while; I might as well take your body to the loo too. And we both might as well brush our teeth too and get ready for bed. All my things for cleansing my face are in the old brown case on the table near my bed."

Harry asked, "What do you mean all the things? Don't you just wash your face with soap?"

She answered, "No, regular soap will dry my skin."

She started to describe her nightly routine; but Harry said, "I really have to go; you can go over how you wash up when we get back."

He started up the girls' stairs waiting for the alarm to go off and throw him back off; but nothing happened. Either the castle's magic didn't realize he was a boy in a girl's body; or the castle was in on the twins prank and thought making a boy and girl switch bodies was funny.

He found the room for third-year girls with Ginny's name on the door, and then her bed and wardrobe. He hung up the robes she wore to the library because she suggested to him that it would be easier to sit on the bog without having to hold the robe up as he went.

He grabbed her kit and crossed to the third-years' girls' loo wearing the Muggle jeans and tee Ginny had on under her school robes. Just as he worried, Ginny's roommates were there in their nighties washing up; he tried not to look at them as he went into a stall.

One girl that Harry recognized as Sara White asked, "Ginny, why haven't you changed for bed? We agreed to talk about plans for the Yule Ball before going to sleep tonight."

The other girl, Mary Jameson said, "Just because Harry didn't ask you to the ball, does that mean you're not going to sleep in that Quidditch shirt of his that you took when he stayed at your house last summer?"

Harry thought, "That's what happened to my Quidditch shirt; I thought it was just lost somewhere in the mess in Ron's room."

Sara asked, "Ginny, are you planning on staying up late instead?"

From the stall, Ginny's voice answered, "Yeah, Fred and George want to talk to me about something; and they asked me to wait in the common room for them to get back. I had to go while I'm waiting; I'll wash up now and change into Harry's shirt later."

Mary said, "I don't know how those two brothers of yours can sneak out after curfew all the time without getting caught. Should we wait up for you so we can talk about the ball?"

Harry, who was standing in the stall hesitant to pull Ginny's jeans and knickers down, said, "No, I don't know how late I'll be; we can talk in the morning."

After the girls left for bed, Harry sighed, and not being able to hold it any longer, finally had to slid Ginny's jeans and knickers down, sit, and relieve himself. He used half a bog roll to pat dry since he didn't want to be the cause of her getting one of those U.T.I.'s.

As he patted dry, he sang the Hogwarts' school song in his mind to avoid thinking about what he was doing to Ginny's quim. Still, he felt a warm feeling start and grow in her body. He moaned, forced himself to stop, and pull her knickers and jeans up.

He washed her hands, and brushed her teeth; but decided not to wash her face until she finished telling him how to go about it the way she wanted. Then he returned to the common room.

Ginny had been in the boys' side before and knew where Harry's room was. She went to his bed, grabbed his kit, and went straight to the fourth-year's boys' loo hoping no one would be there, but there was. Seamus and Dean were washing up wearing nothing but boxer shorts; their night robes were hanging on hooks.

Dean said, "Hi Harry, why aren't you getting ready for bed?"

She answered, "Fred and George are up to something and asked me to wait for them in the common room. I had to cop a wazz and figured to brush, wash up and then go back down to wait for them."

Seamus said, "Don't stay up too late; you don't want to be tired tomorrow for the ball. You're such a lucky bloke, going with Parvati; she has the best body of any girl in our year."

Dean said, "Yeah, and guys say she loves to snog; if you play it right, I bet you can get in her knickers after the ball."

Seamus said, "Yeah, and Ron gets to go with her twin Padma; he's already in his bed and I bet he's wanking just thinking about being with her tomorrow."

Dean said, "He would be stupid to do that; he should save it for her tomorrow night. I bet she's willing to shag him. I hope Lavender wants to do more than snog; but I'm never as lucky as you Harry."

Ginny was furious hearing what the guys were saying about Parvati and Padma; and jealous thinking Harry might actually do more than give Parvati an after the ball thank you kiss.

Then she remembered if they didn't switch back to their own bodies, it might be her taking Parvati to the ball. Harry wouldn't get the chance to even kiss her much less do more.

She was more shocked and didn't know what to say when Dean said Harry was lucky.

Finally, remembering she was in Harry's body, she said, "Yeah Dean, you should be as lucky as me to have Voldemort trying to kill you all the time; and getting to do cool things like having to fight dragons."

Dean said, "Sorry Harry, I wasn't thinking straight, I guess I am a lot luckier than you; you deserve a break like going to the ball with Parvati. I hope she wants to shag your brains out."

The boys put their robes on and left; Ginny went into a stall. As the boys had been talking about Harry and Ron maybe shagging Parvati and Padma, it made her think about it and Ginny felt Harry's member twitching and stiffening. She felt terrible; she was a girl and didn't understand why talking about shagging other girls was making her feel this way.

She had seen her brothers' naked many times when they were all young, but not for more than three years now. Being raised on a farm, as children, they used to swim starkers in their pond; but since she turned ten, her mother insisted she wore a swimming suit and the boys all wear shorts when swimming.

With six brothers, she knew boys stood up to cop a wazz; a couple of times she had even accidentally walked in the loo and seen them doing it. But she never touched one of them, or any other boy's member of course. Now, standing in the stall, she couldn't bring herself to touch Harry's. Finally, she resigned herself to unzipping the jeans and having to hold it.

To her embarrassment, she imagined because it was stiff, she had trouble getting it out of the opening, and ended up fumbling around with it more than she thought she would have to. Then, when she finally got it out, she learned she couldn't aim it down into the bog, it wanted to point up.

She tried to remember how big her brothers were; it seemed to her Harry's member was larger than what she remembered about her brothers. She knew from her sex talk with her mother that a boy's member got bigger when he was excited; then she realized, they were all younger at the time, and none of her brothers' members had been stiff when she saw them.

She knew none of her roommates ever had sex; because, a few times, while sitting around in their room on a weekend talking about boys they fancied, her roommates brought up the subject. They asked her if she ever saw her brothers' or Harry's while he was living at the Burrow.

They all heard from older girls that sex hurt the first time, and that lead to discussing how big certain boys' members might be. She couldn't imagine letting any boy, even Harry, try and push something that big into her quim; it would have to hurt.

One of her roommates got all of them to promise, when any of them actually saw a boy's member, to tell all the others how big it was so they would all know what to expect when their first experience came. They even got Ginny to promise; but now she knew she would never be able to talk about this experience with anyone, girl or boy.

As all that went through her mind, she was stuck, she couldn't go with it stiff. It wouldn't soften while she was holding it, thinking about what Dean and Seamus said, and in her mind comparing the size of Harry to her brothers.

She tried to force herself to think about something else; she kept her mind on what she was going to do to Fred and George for putting her in this embarrassing situation. Eventually, with her mind occupied, without realizing it was happening, Harry's member softened and she discovered she was going.

When she was finished, she wondered if boys had to dry off like girls; then she remembered one time overhearing her brothers say after going, shaking it more than twice was wanking. That thought made it start twitching again, so she hurriedly shook it twice and pushed it back in the pants and zipped up.

After washing her hands, she carefully brushed Harry's teeth. She knew he didn't smile often, but when he did, he had a beautiful smile; and she wanted to be sure to take care of his teeth while they were in her care. When done, she went back to the common room.

Neither Harry nor the twins had returned yet, so she sat in the same divan and waited; five minutes later, Harry came down the girls' stairs and sat next to her. Neither said a word for several minutes; finally Ginny said, "That was so embarrassing, I am going to kill Fred and George; but not until the switch us back."

Harry giggled, then put his hand over his mouth. He said, "What was that, I never giggled before; that's something girls do."

Ginny said, "You are a girl; I do it sometimes and you're acting just like I do."

He said, "Not totally, your roommates were there in their nighties and seeing them sort of made me feel odd down here." He put his hand just below her navel then continued, "I got all warm here; I bet you don't act that way when you see your roommates in their nighties."

Ginny made a face and said, "No, other girls aren't my style; but you're a boy so I would think it would be normal for a boy's mind to react to seeing girls in nighties."

He said, "I have to confess, the guys sometimes talk about girls and I do get feelings; but not there, it sort of affects me in a different place."

She laughed and said, "Harry, you're in my body and it doesn't have that part; girls get that feeling just where you indicated. I guess your boy mind got excited like any boy would; but it caused my girl body to feel it like any girl does when excited.

A few minutes ago, I promised myself that I would never tell anyone about this; but since you were honest with me, I think it's only fair to tell you I had a similar feeling. Dean and Seamus were in their boxers washing up and talking about trying to shag their dates. They even said you might shag Parvati after the ball.

I couldn't help but think about what they were saying and your body reacted to it like I think boys normally do."

The thought of what she saw and felt his body do made Harry embarrassed; that made Ginny's body blush all over. He said, "I'm sorry you had to see and feel that."

She said, "It's not your fault Harry; I think it's actually my fault. It was my mind thinking about what Dean and Seamus said that made your body react that way. Are guys always so crude talking about shagging girls like that? Girls at least are less vulgar when they talk about what they want to do with their dates."

She sat quietly for a minute, then added, "They said Parvati likes to snog and might want to shag you after the ball. You're not really thinking about shagging Parvati; are you Harry?"

Again his mind made Ginny's face blush and he said, "Dean and Seamus are always talking about wanting to shag girls; but I don't think they ever did more than a quick kiss with anyone if that, and I know Ron and I haven't.

I told you earlier in the other room I never even kissed a girl. I don't even want to go to the ball; I didn't make any plans to do anything with Parvati after. And I still think I'll be a lousy date; I doubt Parvati will even want to kiss me much less shag."

Ginny thought to herself, "I'm glad." That thought cause her to make a smile appear on Harry's face.

Harry noticed and asked, "Ginny, did you really want to go to the ball with me?"

Now she was embarrassed and that made Harry's face blush. She said, "Yes. You know me better than any girl other than Hermione; and I know you better than any guy other than my brothers. All things considered, I just sort of thought it would be good to go with each other."

Harry said, "You're right, it would make sense. I'm sorry I didn't ask you. Tell you what, next time there's a ball, would you go with me?"

She smiled and said, "Sure Harry, I'd love to go to the next ball with you; just don't forget you asked."

He said, "I promise; next time I'm all yours."

The door opened and Fred and George entered carrying a large black leather bound book that looked to be ancient.

George said, "It took a while to get it; Filch was prowling around; so …"

Fred went on, "… we decided to bring it back so we could look it over."

They set the book on a table and Ginny and Harry went over to look at it.

Ginny said, "It's all in Latin; I didn't know you guys could read Latin."

Fred said, "What you don't know about us little sister; …"

George finished, "… keeps us from being blackmailed more often by you."

Ginny said, "Ha ha, I already have more than enough on you two to get what I want. Now find that curse and fix us."

Fred flipped pages and said, "Here it is; but we'll have to check our translation …"

George continued, "… to see where we made a mistake."

Fred said, "That will take time, maybe all night; so …"

George finished, "… unless you can read Latin, you both might as well go to sleep."

It was well after midnight, so they decided to sleep on the divan rather than going up and possibly waking their roommates so late.

It was seven when Hermione's voice asked, "Harry, Ginny, what's going on?"

Harry opened Ginny's eyes and said, "What a weird dream."

Hermione said, "Ginny, why are you and Harry sleeping together on the divan; and why are Fred and George sleeping at the table?"

Harry looked around and saw he had fallen asleep with Ginny's head on his body's lap. Ginny, in his body, had an arm over his shoulder; Fred and George were both snoring, their heads on the table, the book still open.

He shook Ginny awake and when she opened Harry's eyes and saw Hermione, she said, "Harry, I think we're in trouble."

Hermione's mouth opened, then she said, "Harry, why are you calling Ginny Harry?"

Harry said, "Ginny, I think we'll have to trust her; maybe she can help us."

Hermione said, "Why don't one of you start at the beginning with why you're both calling each other by the other's name."

Ginny, from Harry's body said, "I'm Ginny, Harry is in my body; the twins pulled some kind of prank on us last night that switched our bodies. We've been trying to get them to switch us back all night; but they don't know how."

Harry from Ginny's body said, "They told us the charm was only supposed to make us switch thoughts so I would know how Ginny felt about me asking Parvati to the ball instead of asking her.

Ginny said, "Something went wrong and we ended up switching bodies. And they told us it should only last an hour, but it's over ten hours now and we're still in the wrong bodies."

Hermione asked, "What is the name of this spell; it sounds like something dark that they shouldn't have been fooling around with."

Ginny said, "Well yeah, we agree they shouldn't have been fooling around with it; it put Harry and me in a more embarrassing situation than you could imagine. It's in that book; they were looking for what went wrong and must have fallen asleep."

Hermione slid the book away from Fred's hand and began reading the open page.

After ten minutes she said, "This is really dark magic; not a charm at all, more of a curse. This spell was meant to be used by an old dying witch or wizard as a way to stay alive by switching souls with a young healthy witch or wizard.

They young person's soul would be lost when the old body died; and the old dark person would have a young healthy body to continue for another lifetime. It sounds like something 'You Know Who' would do.

With all the talking, Fred and George woke and George said, "Hermione, what are you doing here?"

She said, "I'm hoping to fix your mistake and get Harry and Ginny back in their own bodies."

Fred said, "So I guess you know what happened."

She said, "Yes, I know what happened; now I need to find out why it happened and if it can be reversed. Did you two idiots make any notes about the curse that I can check?"

George handed them over and said, "This is our translation; of course the spell had to be done in Latin, but we made the translation so we would understand what should have happened."

Fred said, "We checked it over for hours last night, but …"

George went on, "… we can't find where we went wrong; …"

Fred picked up with, "… other than being stupid enough to do it in the first place."

Hermione sat down and began checking their translation against the original Latin. She said, "Bring me something to eat. If we're going to get Harry and Ginny fixed before the ball I can't take time to go to the great hall."

Fred, George, Ginny, and Harry went to eat while Hermione worked. When they got back with food for her, she was still going over the translation and began nibbling on food as she worked.

The twins went up to their room to catch up on some sleep they missed; Harry and Ginny had to go to the loo again, this time to cop a wazz and a dump. Being the second time for each of them, it was getting less embarrassing.

When they were done in the loo, they settled on the divan again. Hermione continued to work and eventually, hours later, the twins came back to ask if she made any progress.

She said, "Well, I found your mistake; but I can't find a way to reverse it, at least not yet."

Ginny asked, "What did they do wrong?"

Hermione said, "It was the basic nature of the spell they mistranslated. In the description of the spell, it says _**anima mea commutationem**_ _;_ which Fred and George translated to mean exchange minds or thoughts. It actually means exchange souls. It was an easy mistake to make, exchange thoughts is so similar, _**animo commutationem**_.

The problem is the curse was meant to be a one-way thing, so no counter spell is given. All I can think of is to do it again and hope your souls exchange again back to your own bodies."

Ginny said, "So let's do it now; so we can start getting ready for the Yule ball."

Hermione said, "We can't; at least until I get done going over the complete translation."

Harry asked, "Why, the curse worked for them once; what makes you think it won't work again?"

She said, "Part of the page is missing; at the end of the curse, the bottom of the last page was torn out of the book. It ends with a warning about reversing the curse after one …"

Ginny asked, "Reversing after one hour like the twins said?"

Hermione said, "I don't know, the word one is the last word left where the page is torn. It could be one hour, or one day, or one month; or it could be something like after one does some counter spell, or after one anything.

But if whoever wrote this though it was worth giving a warning about reversing the spell, I don't think it is safe to try until we know more about this warning.

Also, do any of you remember how every word of the curse was said exactly?"

Harry said, "No I don't, Fred and George didn't say anything out loud. It seemed like they had the spells on us before time and forcing us to kiss just triggered it."

Hermione said, "The spell calls for a touch to initiate it; I suppose Fred and George thought a kiss would be more romantic than a common touch by your hands."

George said, "Of course, it's a long complicated spell so we did it on each of you secretly over the past two days as you were sitting in here studying."

Fred said, "We knew you wouldn't sit still and be quiet if you knew we were doing it."

Hermione said, "So you made a mistake translating; what if you also mispronounced a word or words on Harry, Ginny, or both of them; that could have made a big difference on the result. If we don't do it exactly the same way to reverse it, who knows what such a dark spell might do."

Ginny asked, "Will you be able to reverse it in time for us to get ready for the ball?"

Hermione said, "No, with part of a page missing, we'll have to see if we can find the spell in another book without the page torn out. I have a date for the ball to you know; but what do you think is more important, making it to the ball, or getting you back into your own bodies."

Ginny said, "Can't we go to the ball somehow and change back when you're ready?"

Hermione said, "Ginny, you're in Harry's body. Do you really want to go with Parvati, dance with her, maybe have her kiss you?

What about you Harry, how would you feel about going with Neville and dancing with and maybe kissing him?"

Harry said, "I don't care about the ball at all; I've told Ginny I never wanted to go anyway."

Ginny said, "But you have to go; or rather I have to go in your body or McGonagall will kill you. And you did ask Parvati; she bought a dress, and she's looking forward to it. It will hurt her feelings if we don't carry it out; and it will hurt Neville's feelings too."

Hermione said, "I can't do any more without finding the missing warning; it's only noon we have a couple of hours before we have to start getting ready. Fred, George, and I can go to the library and look for another copy; maybe I'll be able to find it by then."

Harry and Ginny wanted to go and help search the library, but Hermione said, "Neither of you is good enough in Latin; and the more of us looking around, the more likely Madam Pince is to ask what we're doing. It's best if you two stay here."

Fred, George, and Hermione left; Harry and Ginny went back to sitting on the divan. They ignored friends that came and tried to talk with them making excuses until after two when Ron came over.

He said, "What's up with you two sitting together and talking all day? Everyone's wants to know why. Harry is supposed to be going to the ball with Parvati, not you Ginny; you're supposed to be going with Neville. Now everyone is saying they think you two are going together."

Ginny said, "Ron, the twins pranked us last night and we have a big problem; all we're doing is trying to figure out what we can do."

Ron asked, "What did they do to you?"

Harry said, "We don't want everyone to know; it will get Fred and George in trouble. Hermione figured out what went wrong and she's working on a solution. If she or the twins come up with something in the next two hours, everything will be back to normal; if not, we'll tell you about it."

Ron said, "If you won't tell me, I'll go ask Fred and George. Where are they?"

Ginny said, "In the library, Hermione too; they're looking for a way to reverse their prank. But they promised not to tell anyone what they did, not even you."

As soon as Ron walked away angry, Neville approached, also looking angry, and said, "Ginny, Harry, I think we need to talk about the ball tonight."


	3. Chapter 3 Dressing for the Ball

Chapter III – Dressing for the Ball

Harry and Ginny looked at each other and Ginny in Harry's body said, "You're right Neville, we do need to talk; you deserve to know what happened."

Harry in Ginny's body said, "But first, we need to find Parvati; she also deserves to know the truth."

Neville waited until they found Parvati. They got together in a corner of the common room and Neville said, "Everyone has been talking about you two sleeping together on the divan last night and sitting together all day. If you two have become a couple, where does that leave me and Parvati for the ball tonight?"

Parvati looked at Harry's body and said, "Harry, do you still want to go to the ball with me?"

Ginny's body spoke and said, "First you have to promise not to tell anyone what we're going to tell you. If you do, and this gets out, the twins could be expelled; and we'll be in trouble to. So do you both promise not to tell anyone?"

Neville and Parvati both promised; so from Ginny's body, Harry said, "I'm Harry, Ginny is in my body; the twins pulled a prank and it accidentally switched us into each other's bodies."

Ginny explained the entire story; but needless to say, neither Neville nor Parvati believed them.

Harry, in Ginny's body said, "Ask the twins or Hermione; tell them we explained it and they'll tell you it's true."

Parvati, still thinking it was Ginny talking said, "Hermione and your brothers would say whatever you wanted them to."

Finally, Ginny in Harry's body said, "Parvati, ask me something only Ginny would know; something Harry couldn't have a chance of getting right."

Harry in Ginny's body said, "Great idea, Neville, you ask me something Ginny couldn't possibly know."

Parvati thought for a minute, then said, "A few weeks ago, Ginny was in my room with me, Padma, Lavender, and Hermione. We were playing truth or dare and Ginny chose truth. What question did I ask Ginny and what was her answer?"

Harry's face got red and Ginny said, "I can't say it out loud, but I'll whisper it to you."

She took Parvati aside and after telling her something, Parvati said, "It really is you in Harry's body, oh my god."

Neville said, "My turn, I told Harry and nobody else the name of the girl I wanted to take to the ball but I was afraid to ask her. What's her name and why did I want to ask her?"

Harry in Ginny's body said, "Do you want me to say it out loud, or whisper to you."

Neville said, "Whisper, no offence girls, I don't want anyone to tell her I fancy her."

He took Neville aside and whispered, "Hannah Abbott from Hufflepuff; because next to you, she's best in our year in Herbology and you like to talk to her about it."

Neville said, "I'm satisfied, you two did switch bodies. So what does that mean for all of us and the ball?"

Harry said, "That's what we've been talking about all day. We thought of not telling you two about this; I was going to pretend to be Ginny and go with Neville and Ginny would pretend to be me and go with Parvati. But we decided it wouldn't be fair to you two; it would be a lie if we didn't let you know."

Ginny said, "Well as to the ball, Harry has to go or McGonagall will kill him; and right now, I'm in Harry's body. So, unless Hermione and the twins find a way to change us back in the next hour, I have to go as him.

The question is, who will be my date? Parvati, if you go with me you'll actually have a date with another girl. Then Harry and Neville, two boys, will be together; or both of them can just not go.

Parvati said, "Is there an alternative?"

Harry said, "Ginny and I go together; and you and Neville go together."

Ginny said, "That way, we all get to go, we'll have two boy-girl couples; and Harry and I will keep our problem between us."

Harry said, "We're sorry that you two got dragged into our problem; it's not even our fault, Fred and George pranked us and now all four of us are stuck in a bad situation."

Parvati said, "I don't think I can go with Ginny in Harry's body; I would know it's her and keep thinking all night that I'm dating another girl."

Neville said, "You would be dating another girl; and I'd be dating another boy, even if Harry does look like Ginny. That idea gives me the collywobbles."

Parvati said, "Then I guess I'll go with Neville; that is if you want to go with me Neville."

Neville said, "Sure Parvati, you're beautiful and you're a very nice person too."

Ginny said, "Now that we settled that, I have a favor to ask of you Parvati; actually two favors. First, you can't tell anyone the real reason we switched dates, not even Padma."

Parvati asked, "So what do we tell people; they're bound to ask?"

Harry said, "I'll take the blame; tell them it's my fault. Tell anyone that asks that because I stayed with the Weasleys last summer, I started to fancy Ginny, and I finally got the nerve to tell her just this week. Tell them I asked you and Neville to do us a favor and go together so I could take Ginny."

Parvati said, "But Harry, all the girls will hate you; a lot of them still think you cheated to get into the tournament. They'll think you're even more rotten for doing that to me."

Harry said, "I can live with that, I'm sort of used to people thinking badly of me. As long as nobody blames you, Neville, or Ginny, it will be okay. It will be less embarrassing than telling everyone Ginny and I switched bodies."

Parvati said, "Okay, I don't think it's fair to you; but, if that's what you want. Ginny, what other favor do you want from me?"

She said, "Harry will need help getting my hair done nice, getting makeup on, and getting into my dress. I don't think he can do it by himself; and I don't want everyone to think I can't either.

Hermione will help him, but I think he'll need more than just her; I don't want my body looking like a disaster for the ball."

Harry said, "Yes, please Parvati. I have no idea how to do a girl's hair or makeup; but I figure I can put a dress on by myself."

Parvati giggled and said, "I doubt it Harry; it's not just a dress, it's a formal gown and all the accessories. Do you think you'll pick the proper knickers, shoes, earrings, necklace, bracelets, and other matching items on your own?"

Ginny said, "I really don't have much in the way of fancy shoes and knickers to choose from; and I don't have any jewelry to worry about."

Parvati said, "I have plenty of shoes and jewelry; I'll make sure to pick out something nice so Harry, I mean so you, will look fabulous.

Harry groaned and said, "So that means you will help me?"

Parvati said, "Sure Harry, and other girls will want to stick in their own two pence too; even though they won't know it's you. They all like Ginny and will want to help her."

Harry said, "I just hope all you girls won't be running around in your knickers while I'm getting ready; I may be in Ginny's body, but I still have a boy's mind in here."

Parvati said, "Well, I won't and I'm sure Hermione won't either because we know who you are; but since we can't tell anyone else, I think you're going to see not just knickers, but a lot of uncovered girl parts."

It was after four when Hermione and the twins returned from the library. She said, "We couldn't find another copy; so I won't be able to change you back. At least not now, but starting tomorrow we'll keep looking and trying."

Harry said, "Why not just try doing the spell again?"

Hermione said, "I told you, the spell was not meant to be reversed; so I can't tell what kind of effect doing it over with the same two souls will have. We really should ask Dumbledore to check this."

Ginny said, "Fred and George could be expelled for going into the restricted section and then casting a dark curse on other students. I think we should wait until you're sure there's nothing else you can do.

Besides, they said they thought it was supposed to reverse itself after an hour. You said the last word was reverse after one, even if its one week instead of one hour; at least Fred and George won't be in trouble. As angry as I am with them; I don't want them expelled."

Hermione said, "It's your bodies if you don't mind being each other. Now it's time for us to start getting ready if we have to help Harry too. Ginny, boys don't need as much time; but you might want to shower before all the other boys get there."

Hermione and Parvati took Harry up the girls' side, and Parvati said to him, "Get Ginny's kit, and go to the showers. I'll come and tell her roommates that our fourth-year loo is packed with everyone getting ready at the same time. Since there are only three of you going to the ball, I'll ask if they would mind me showering in the third-year loo.

Harry, you try to keep your eyes, I mean Ginny's eyes, off me while I shower and dress."

Harry said, "I'll try; Ginny gave me a whole routine for her hair, shampoo, detangling conditioner, drying and brushing. That and just showering will keep me busy; you girls sure have a complicated time getting ready, boys just shower and comb their hair."

Hermione laughed and said, "You don't even bother to comb your hair."

Harry said, "I try, but it won't stay combed."

When Harry got to the girls' loo, Ginny's roommates were already there, Mary Jameson was naked wiping herself with a towel, Harry assumed she had just stepped out of the shower stall. He looked away, but he was a fourteen-year-old boy who had never seen a naked girl, and his mind kept drawing him back to glance at her.

Sara White was standing in front of a mirror brushing her wet hair. She was wrapped in a towel that barely covered her bum and as Harry looked at her, she bent over the sink and her entire bum and quim was exposed.

Harry had never seen a girl's quim or breasts before. His cousin Dudley once claimed to have Muggle magazines with pictures of naked girls; but when Harry expressed interest in seeing them, Dudley said a Ponce like Harry wouldn't want to see them anyway.

Despite his plans not to look, with two girls exposing their parts, Harry's hormones were going full blast, and he kept glanced from one girl to another.

He decided he needed to get in the shower stall before the girls noticed him looking and would think it was Ginny that was interested in ogling their bodies.

He took off the robe he was wearing, hung it on a hook, and adjusted the water temperature. He just pulled the curtain closed when he heard Parvati say, "Do you mind if I shower here, the fourth-year loo is packed."

Both girls said no, they didn't mind, and Harry heard Parvati turn on the shower in the next stall. He began shampooing Ginny's long hair, then put the detangling conditioner on as she had told him, and finally rinsed thoroughly.

Now he took her body wash and a thing she told him was a purple body poof that exfoliated her skin, whatever that means, and he started at her shoulders to wash her body. The shoulders and back went well, but when he got to the point where he had to rub her breasts, he had a problem.

Ginny only had small breasts, but as he rubbed the poof over them, despite promising Ginny he wouldn't, he looked down at them. He noticed that warm feeling he had felt before start deep inside just below Ginny's navel. Her breasts felt so soft and smooth he kept feeling them until he noticed her nipples stiffened as he rubbed them. He was fascinated and continued for a few minutes as the warm feeling continued to grow.

Then he realized he was enjoying this, and Ginny had specifically said, "You better not enjoy yourself as you touch my parts" so, feeling guilty, he moved his hands off her breasts and washed her lower abdomen and her bum. Her bum was small and firm and he realized he had squeezed it as he washed it. He thought, "I'm in trouble now, if I enjoyed rubbing her breasts and her bum, what will it be like washing her quim."

He had to do it, she told him it is important for a girl to keep her quim clean or she could develop a number of problems like a U.T.I.. He sighed, got his hand soaped up, and began washing between her legs.

The warm feeling that had started to fade came back stronger than ever; it felt like he was wanking as a boy and was almost there. He felt guilty, but couldn't stop himself; then suddenly he felt her body stiffen, the warm feeling spread all through her body and he started to moan, but forced himself to keep quiet.

When the feeling faded, he hurriedly finished washing her legs and turned off the water. He knew he had done just what Ginny told him not to do, enjoy touching her; he felt so guilty and he thought, "I can never tell Ginny or mention this to anyone."

He started drying off and heard Parvati say, "Ginny, are you done showering? I'll start on your hair if you're ready; come here by the mirror."

Sara was working on Mary's hair, so Harry wrapped the towel around Ginny's body and went in front of the mirror. Parvati had dried off and had her robe on; but the other two girls were still wrapped only in towels. Every time Parvati saw Harry glance over at one of the semi-naked girls, she pinched him; but all that did was make him get sneakier at shifting his eyes without turning his head.

Parvati used a spell to quickly dry Ginny's hair, then began to braid it in a complicated double braid pattern when Hermione arrived. She said, "Oh Ginny, if Parvati is already started on you, I'll go back to our loo; Lavender said she'll work on my hair. Parvati, when you finish Ginny, come back and I'll work on your hair."

Ginny, in Harry's body, undressed, put on his robe, got his kit, and a clean pair of boxers, then headed to the fourth-year boys' shower. She found all four of Harry's roommates there; Dean and Seamus were naked, wiping off after just coming out of the shower.

She couldn't help noticing their members, Dean's slightly larger than Harry's, and Seamus' just a little smaller. Both pulled on boxers and went to the mirror to comb their hair, while Ron and Neville pulled off their boxers to get into the shower.

Neville glanced over, knowing it was her in Harry's body, he tried to keep turned away without attracting the attention of the other boys by acting suspiciously; she only got a quick glance at his member, which was about the same size as Harry's. But Ron stood facing her, she hadn't seen him naked for nearly four years when he was eleven and very small, now she saw his member had grown and was also about the same size as Harry's.

Looking at naked boys, her mind was making Harry's member get stiff; and to keep the boys from noticing, she turned away.

Ron however went over to her and said, "Harry, the twins and Hermione wouldn't tell me what is going on between you and Ginny; as her brother, I think if you started to fancy her, you should be man enough to tell me."

Dean and Seamus had left to go get dressed and Neville was in the shower with the water running. Ginny said to Ron, "It's really embarrassing and will get Fred and George in big trouble if any of the teachers find out."

Ron said, "You know I won't tell anyone; you told Hermione, why don't you trust me?"

Ginny said, "Hermione found out by accident; and it's not that we don't trust you, but you'll get really mad."

Ron said, "Why, did you and Ginny do something together? Were you snogging her?"

Harry's face got red and Ron said, "Did you do more than snog her? I'll beat the crap out of you if you did anything to Ginny."

She said, "Ron, I am Ginny; the twins wanted to prank us; but they used some sort of curse that made me and Harry switch bodies. They don't know how to switch us back and Hermione went over the spell to see if she can find a way to reverse it, but so far, no luck.

For now, I'm going to the ball as Harry and he's going as me; that's why we asked Neville and Parvati to switch dates, it wasn't right to make Parvati go with me and Neville go with Harry."

Ron was red to the ears and said, "Don't give me a line of dragon dung Harry; be a man and tell me the truth."

Ginny said, "I knew you wouldn't believe me but it's the truth, I'm Ginny in Harry's body. By the way, you might want to cover up; you're standing naked in front of your sister."

Neville came from the shower, quickly wrapped himself in a towel, and said, "Its true Ron; Ginny and Harry explained it to me and Parvati when they asked us to switch dates. We both tested them with questions because we didn't believe them either.

Go ahead and ask her something only Ginny would know and Harry couldn't guess."

Ron said, "When Ginny was seven and I was eight, Fred and George pranked both of us. What did they do; and what did Ginny do to get back at them?"

Ginny said, "They turned our hair green the day we were to go to Aunt Muriel's; she blamed us instead of them. I used Muriel's wand to vanish their clothes and when she saw them naked, she blamed us again."

Ron gasped, then realizing it was really Ginny in Harry's body, he put his hands over his member and yelled, "Ginny, how could you come into the boys shower knowing all of us were naked in here?"

She said, "Look at me, this is Harry's body; what do you think would happen if I walked like this into the girls' shower, assuming I could even get up the girls' stairs. And do you want Harry in my body to be showering naked in here with you, Neville, Seamus, and Dean.

We both knew it wasn't an ideal situation; but couldn't figure any other way to keep it secret."

Ron said, "Why don't both of you just not go to the ball?"

She said, "You know McGonagall insists that Harry, as a champion, has to go and has to do the opening dance with his date. She would kill him if he didn't show up; and kill Fred and George if we had to explain to her why Harry didn't show. Do you have a better idea of how to handle the situation?"

Ron just stood with his mouth open until Ginny said, "Neither do we. Now I have to shower and get Harry's body ready to go to the ball."

She took off Harry's boxers and got into the shower.

Ron yelled to her, "Don't look at Harry's member or dare touch it."

Ginny yelled back, "Ron, you're such a prat. How do I wash without touching it; besides, I've already had to touch it three times since last night to cop a wazz."

Neville said, "Ron, quit yelling at her; Ginny and Harry are already embarrassed enough about this. Now, I have to go get dressed; you better shower and get ready too."

In the shower, Ginny quickly shampooed Harry's hair thinking how easy he had it compared to her. Then she started to wash his body with plain soap; she would have to remember to tell him about body washes for men being better for the skin.

Eventually she got to his member, which was half-stiff after seeing the naked boys. Again, she wondered about how her thoughts as a girl seeing naked boys caused Harry's boy's body to react when it normally wouldn't have by him seeing other boys. She washed his member and it quickly stiffened totally, as it had been last night the first time she touched it.

Touching it felt good, but different from the felling she got as a girl thinking about boys. All the feeling was in it, not in her center body.

She knew her brothers all wanked and had even seen them doing it out by the pond when they didn't know she was there. She wondered if Harry wanked, then thought; sure he did, he's a fourteen-year old boy.

After her mom had given her sex talk, she had masturbated herself to an orgasm a couple of times as most girls had at one time or another; she thought about Harry as she did it. She wondered what girl Harry thought about while doing it; she hoped it was her, not Hermione, or some other girl.

Now she wondered what it felt like for a boy.

She knew she shouldn't, but also knew, if they ever figured how to reverse the curse, she would never get another chance, so she continued to rub Harry's member until her knees got weak and she felt the contraction in his bollocks and member. She shot thick white fluid onto the shower floor; but she was disappointed that, though it felt good, it was over so fast.

She figured it was over too fast because she didn't do it right, and decided, if they didn't switch back before she got the chance, she would try again slower. She finished showering and found Ron waiting for her.

He said, "We have to talk about this more, but now, we have to get dressed and get to the common room before our dates." Because Dean and Seamus were there, Ron didn't get the chance to talk with Ginny as they stood around the common room waiting.

Parvati did Ginny's hair so the two braids went around the sides of her head and made it look like she had a red crown on with a few curly strands hanging in strategic places. Parvati left to get her hair done and Hermione returned to help Harry get into Ginny's ball dress properly.

Ginny said, "I thought you were doing Parvati's hair."

Hermione already had her gown on, and her hair done up in a bun; she said, "Lavender offered to do Parvati's hair so I could get back here to help you."

Hermione finished with him, and he was just heading down to meet Ginny when Parvati came back with dressy shoes that matched her gown, and a complete set of matching jade necklace, bracelet, and earrings. The green jade went well with Ginny's gown and red hair. All the girls, and Harry, were now ready and went together to meet their dates.

As they came down the stairs, one at a time, the boys all rave about each girl, until Harry came down. All the boys except Ron said she was beautiful; Ron simply said, "Har … Ah Ginny, can we talk for a moment."

They went into a corner and Ron hissed out, "Why didn't you tell me what happened; you better be respectful of Ginny's body while you're in it, and even when you're switched back."

Harry said, "That's exactly why we didn't tell you; we both knew you would act crazy."

Ron said, "You're in my little sister's body, you just washed her naked body in the shower; I think I'm entitled to worry about that."

Harry said, "Well, you can take out your anger on your brothers; because Ginny and I didn't want this, they did it to us. Do you think I want to be stuck in a girl's body; or Ginny want to be stuck in mine?

By the way, since you know, I assume Ginny told you about it. Did you yell at her for being in the boys' shower with the guys; or are you just going to take it out on me?"

Ron's mouth hung open and he finally got out, "Yes I did yell at her, and you just better watch what you do with Ginny's body."

Ron turned and walked out the door to meet his date Padma who was in Ravenclaw. Ginny came over and said, "Did Ron lay into you about respecting my body?"

Harry said, "Yeah, like I planned all this just to molest you."

Ginny said, "Yeah, he's a big prat; he started on me but I tore into him and walked away before he could really get started.

Let's go to the ball and try to enjoy it as much as we can in this condition."


	4. Chapter 4 - The Ball

Chapter IV – The Ball

When they got to the entrance of the great hall, McGonagall came over and said, "Mr. Potter, I thought Miss Patil was your date for the ball."

Sticking to what Harry said earlier, Ginny said, "Last minute change in plans; Ginny and I realized we fancied each other and we asked Parvati and Neville if they were willing to switch dates. They agreed the night would be more fun for everyone this way; we're all still friends."

McGonagall said, "Very well, you and Miss Weasley wait here with the other champions until everyone else is seated; then you four couples will walk in and be seated at the head table."

As soon as they walked in the great hall, they knew they were in trouble; Ginny and Harry were seated next to Percy. He told them Mr. Crouch was sick, so as his assistant, Percy was representing him.

They were fairly sure they could keep anyone else from discovering they had switched bodies; but it would be a lot harder to fool Percy who knew Ginny so well.

Percy asked, "Ginny, why are you here as Harry's date? Are you seeing him on a regular basis?"

Ginny thought quickly and said, "Didn't mom and dad tell you? Harry and I started to fancy each other at the world cup. I guess if you spend more time at the ministry than at home, you can't keep up with what the family is doing."

Percy got angry and turned to talk with Professor Vector who was seated on his other side. Ginny whispered to Harry, "I figured if I insulted him, he wouldn't ask me a lot of questions."

They talked casually to each other as they ate; and all too soon for Harry, Dumbledore asked everyone to stand. The dishes disappeared from the tables and with a wave of his arm, Dumbledore made the tables move to the sides of the room to open a dance floor.

He signaled the champions and their dates out onto the floor to begin the opening dance.

Ginny said, "Harry, I'll lead since I'm in your body. All you have to do is follow my feet with yours; if I step back with my right foot; you step forward with your left and so forth."

The music started and Harry did reasonably well following Ginny about. After a minute, more couples joined in and Harry felt more relaxed knowing everyone wasn't watching him now. He actually began to enjoy holding Ginny and dancing.

The first slow dance ended and Harry started off the floor; but Ginny grabbed him and said, "Oh no Potter, I'm here to enjoy myself, even considering the fix we're in. That means you're going to dance with me; at least a few dances."

Harry followed her about the floor and like with the first dance, soon began to enjoy himself. After six dances, Ginny said, "Alright, we can take a break; do you want something to drink? As a gentleman, it's my responsibility to get my date something to drink."

Harry laughed and said, "Thank you Mr. Potter; that would be nice. I'll find two seats near someone that knows about us so we won't have to worry about talking."

Instead, Harry found seats near the twins and their dates knowing they would be dancing almost continuously so there would be empty seats around them and they could talk in private.

As they sipped the punch Ginny got, Harry said, "So far so good, nobody has questioned us and I'm actually having fun. I'm sort of happy to be your date even if we are backward; but I didn't realize all the work I would have to go through as a girl to get ready for a dance."

Ginny said, "Thank you Harry, I'm having a good time too; and yeah, girls do have a lot of work getting ready, compared to guys that is. I hope you're getting to feel what a girl will do for a guy she likes.

As for being backward, maybe we'll be lucky and switch back before anyone else finds out what happened."

He said, "Yes, it will be perfect if Hermione and the twins can only find a way to reverse the curse."

Ginny took his hand and said, "Harry, what do we do if we never get back in our own bodies?"

He answered, "I don't know. Let's not worry about that tonight; let's just enjoy ourselves as best as we can."

Then something happened, for a fraction of a second, Harry was back in his body, then back in Ginny's body again. He asked, "Did you feel that too?"

Ginny said, "Yes, we were normal, then back this way again. Maybe that means the curse is weakening; maybe we'll switch back permanently soon."

Harry smiled and said, "Let's celebrate, come on and dance again. Maybe exercise helps."

Ginny said, "Maybe it's us touching; this flicker into our own bodies happened when I took your hand."

Harry said, "We touched a number of times last night and today while sitting together on the couch; it didn't change us."

Ginny said, "Maybe it takes many touches like when we were dancing; or longer contact to reverse, or maybe it's because we touched and the curse is also weakening. The spell started when we kissed; maybe another kiss will reverse it."

Harry said, "Let's do slow dances and hold hands; I think if we kiss here in front of everyone, Percy and Ron might not like it. If holding hands for a while doesn't work, we can go somewhere private and try kissing. Nobody will think anything unusual about a couple slipping away from the dance; we just can't let Ron or Percy see us go."

The band played two slow dances, and Ginny and Harry held each other tightly, dancing up against each other. In the middle of the second dance, they flicked back into their own bodies for more than a second this time before returning to the other's body.

Ginny said, "It's going to happen, we're going to return to normal; it's only a matter of time. Let's keep holding hands, I think that's helping."

The band started playing fast dances, so they returned to their seats so they could continue touching. After ten minutes, Ginny leaned in and said, "Harry, let's kiss and see if it helps."

He said, "Yes, I think it might help."

They looked around and saw Percy was busy talking to Professor McGonagall, and Ron was nowhere in sight. They leaned toward each other and kissed. As their lips touched, they flicked back to their own bodies and remained there; but as soon as they broke the kiss, they flicked back the wrong way again.

Harry said, "That lasted longer; but we can't stay kissing forever."

Ginny said, "No, I suppose not; but it would be fun to try."

Harry looked at her and said, "Yeah, I had the same thought; maybe this body switch actually did what Fred and George wanted. I did get a good idea about how you feel about me; and I'd like to continue seeing you even after we return to normal."

Ginny said, "I'd like that too; why don't we go somewhere and kiss until we switch back. Then we can kiss some more to celebrate."

Harry said, "We should tell Fred, George, and Hermione what happened when we kissed, where we're going, and why. It will make them feel better if they know, and they can cover for us in case Ron, Percy, or anyone else wants to know where we went."

They found the twins first and explained how they were flicking back and forth between bodies and how they thought touching and kissing was helping the process.

Fred said, "If I were you, I would want to get closer contact than even kissing; …"

George said, "… because if kissing helps, more passionate snogging might help more."

Fred added, "And even if snogging doesn't switch you back; …"

George continued, "… at least you'll have some fun doing it."

Fred said, "We'll cover for you; there's a rarely used shortcut behind the tapestry …"

George said, "… on the third floor near the one-eyed witch statue."

Harry said, "I know it, I found it last year on the map."

Harry and Ginny found Hermione having a drink with her date Viktor Krum, the Durmstrang champion. Ginny said to Viktor, "Excuse us, but we need to tell Hermione something in private for just a moment."

She went to the side with them and they explained what was happening; she gave them an odd look with a smirk on her face and said was, "Well, if you think it helps I suppose you should kiss; just don't get carried away and do something you be sorry for."

They made their way to the third floor, looked to see nobody was around, and slipped behind the tapestry. Ginny pulled Harry into a kiss and the second their lips touched, they flicked to normal.

They held the kiss and Ginny slid her tongue onto Harry's lips; never having kissed like that before, Harry wasn't sure what to do, so he followed her lead and slipped his tongue out in response. They tongue wrestled for a minute before Ginny pushed into Harry's mouth; in another minute, they broke off to catch their breath.

As they did, a few seconds later, they reverted to the other's body, and Harry said, "I wouldn't mind doing that all the time; but I don't think our professors would let us."

Ginny said, "No, they wouldn't; but I wouldn't mind doing it more often."

Harry said, "Your feet are getting tired standing here in Parvati's borrowed shoes; everyone is at the ball, let's go back to the common room. We can snog and talk there until midnight before people start returning."

It was just after ten when they reached the common room and Ginny said, "I'm knackered, we didn't get much sleep last night; why don't we get out of these dress clothes and into our night clothes so we'll be ready to go to sleep.

Then we can come back down here and snog while we wait for Fred, George, and Hermione. I'm sure they'll want to hear if we made any progress getting back into our own bodies. "

Harry said, "Shall I do your face cleansing now, or wait for later."

Ginny said, "Do everything, face, brush my teeth, and bring my hair brush here so I can take those fancy braids out before my hair gets all tangled."

Fifteen minutes later, Ginny was back in Harry's pajama bottoms, night robe, and slippers; five minutes later Harry returned in Ginny's dressing robe, slippers, and wearing hidden underneath the robe, his Quidditch shirt she had taken.

He sat with his back to her and she started undoing the braids and brushing her hair out as they talked.

She said, "The last time we kissed, we kept our own bodies for almost five seconds after breaking off the kiss; maybe we'll stay ourselves if we keep kissing."

Harry said, "We have an hour and a half before people start returning; get your hair the way you want it and let's get back to snogging."

After Ginny finished brushing her hair, they sat close and started snogging again. Each time their lips touched, they returned to their own bodies; but every time they broke the kiss, they went back to the wrong bodies. The good news was, after breaking off the kiss, they stayed in their right bodies longer each time.

In the next half an hour, they went from sitting close while snogging, to snogging while leaning back on the arm of the divan, to lying next to each other on the divan still snogging. Every few minutes, they would break the kiss to see if they would stay in their own bodies. They were to the point where they stayed as themselves for nearly a minute after breaking the kiss.

Between kisses, they talked; eventually Ginny said, "Harry, I have to confess something because I feel guilty not telling you what I did. Earlier tonight, before getting dressed I went to shower, and your roommates were all there, all naked a one time or the other.

I tried to ignore them, but I couldn't help looking and it excited me; or I should say it excited your body. I hurried into the shower stall so they wouldn't see your member like that and think you liked guys."

Harry interrupted, "You didn't have to tell me that; it was my body, but you are a normal girl and couldn't help wanting to check out boys. My body reacted to your girl's mind being excited inside me. I admit, seeing your roommates naked made me excited too; of course they couldn't see that warm feeling I got down here in your body." He touched her body just below her navel.

She said, "I wasn't done Harry. You were still stiff when I washed and when I rubbed it, it felt so good I couldn't stop until I …"

She couldn't finish saying what she did; but he finished for her, "You wanked until I came."

She had tears in her eyes and said, "I'm sorry Harry, I shouldn't have used your body to please myself."

He hugged her and said, "Don't feel guilty; it's a natural thing for a boy to do when he gets that way. Your mind is a girl's mind, but it was in a boy's body at the time. What would you have done if you were in your own body and saw four naked boys?"

She blushed and said, "I probably would have gotten myself off just like I did with your body."

He said, "I have to be honest with you too; I did the same thing in the shower with your body. Washing your breasts made that feeling from seeing your roommates get stronger. By the time I washed your quim, I couldn't stop just like you couldn't stop.

But I do have one question, it felt as good or better when I rubbed the top of your quim as it did when I rubbed near your opening; why is that? Nobody ever talked to me about sex; so I don't know anything about a girl's body or pleasing a girl, but I would like to learn."

She said, "You shouldn't feel guilty either Harry. I know I told you not to enjoy yourself when you touched my parts; but I knew you are a boy and wouldn't be able to resist, no normal boy would.

At the top of a girl's quim is a sensitive spot called the clitoris; rubbing it is one of the fastest ways for a girl to get an orgasm. Did you insert any fingers inside my cunny?"

He turned red and said, "No, I just rubbed over your quim; do girls really put a finger inside?"

She said, "Yes, most girls do that, like most boys wank. Some girls use two or three fingers; during my sex talk, my mother said to expect my husband to do it as a way of leading into actual sex. It's the other fast way of reaching an orgasm."

Harry said, "I really need to get a book about sex; or find someone to explain about sex, especially if we're going to be dating."

She looked at him and said, "You sound pretty sure of yourself Mr. Potter; considering this is our first date."

Harry turned red and stuttered out, "No, Ginny, that's not … I didn't mean I think you'll want to … Oh Merlin, Ginny I respect you and will never …"

"You'll never what?" she asked.

He said, "Ask you to have sex; I mean I think I will someday, but not now."

She said, "Harry stop, I know what you mean; I know you and your sense of nobility. I'm not ready to have sex either; but like you said, some day I will be. Some day, when we're both ready for it, it will happen. But I do think you should learn about sex before that day. Didn't your uncle ever tell you anything about sex?"

He answered, "Merlin no, he never talks to me about anything; he only yells."

She said, "What about my father, he's talked with all my brothers; I'm sure he'll talk with you if you explain you have nobody else."

Harry said, "That would be interesting. I could say, Mr. Weasley, I've started dating your daughter and now I'd like you to tell me about how sex works."

Ginny laughed and said, "I think I want to be there when you say that just to see my father's face."

Now Harry laughed too and said, "Maybe I'll get to see my godfather; I'm sure he would explain things to me."

She said, "I didn't know you had a godfather; who is he?"

Harry said, "I guess I can tell you; if we're going to be dating, you'll meet him eventually. My godfather is Sirius Black."

She yelled, "Sirius Black the murderer that escaped from Azkaban and tried to kill you last year?"

Harry put a finger on her lips and said, "That was all a lie; Ron, Hermione, and I met him last June and he's innocent of everything people say about him. We helped him escape again after Snape captured him. "

She asked, "How can you be sure he's innocent if the ministry said he's guilty and sent him to Azkaban?"

He said, "Because we caught the person that betrayed my parents and he confessed everything to us; he framed Sirius for what he actually did. Lupin and Dumbledore also know Sirius is innocent. We write to each other and I talked with him over the flue network right there in that fireplace just before the first task."

Ginny asked, "If he's innocent, why is he still hiding?"

Harry said, "Wormtail, that's the man who confessed, escaped before we could bring him in to the ministry; so we have no proof we can take to court. That's why we didn't tell you or your parents and you can't tell anyone either.

If the ministry finds out we helped Sirius escape and are in contact with him, we'll be arrested for aiding a criminal."

Harry went to snog her again, but as he did, she rolled so she, still back in Harry's body, was on top of him still in her body. As they snogged, they returned to their own bodies. Their robes gradually worked open, and soon the only things between them were Harry's pajama bottoms and boxers she had put on; and his Quidditch shirt she wore as a nightshirt along with her knickers.

Minutes of snogging passed and Ginny brought her legs up wrapping them around Harry's waist. His member stiffened and was resting on her quim as the continued to snog; she moaned and said, "Oh Harry, I hope we can keep doing this even after we return permanently to our right bodies."

Just then, the door opened and McGonagall came in; they sat up quickly and rewrapped their robes in place, but not quickly enough that McGonagall didn't see the position they were in.

She said, "Mr. Potter, Miss Weasley, people have been looking for you; why did you leave the ball so early? Your brother Percy asked me to find you; I believe he doesn't trust Mr. Potter's intentions toward you. And judging from what I see, he is right to worry about you."

Harry said, "We were just tired and decided that, since I fulfilled my obligation as a champion to show up and do the first dance, we would leave early and get some rest."

McGonagall said, "It didn't look like you were resting; that will be twenty points from Gryffindor each, and a week's detention. I will be writing home to your parents Miss Weasley, and to your aunt and uncle, Mr. Potter; and if I ever see such a display again, you will both be suspended.

Now I must get back to the ball so I can't stay here to watch you; and dressed like that, you can't come back to the ball. It is eleven-thirty, can I trust the two of you to go to your own rooms and behave for half an hour until other students begin to return?"

Both said, "Yes Professor, but can we wait here? We need to talk with Fred, George, and Hermione about something very important."

She said, "Very well, but I will ask one of them or your brother Ronald to return as soon as possible so you will not be alone."

She left and Harry said, "Sorry I got you in trouble."

Ginny said, "You didn't make me do anything I didn't want to do Harry; there's no need to apologize.

He said, "My aunt and uncle won't care; but your parents will be furious. They may not let me come visit over the summer. They may even order you not to see me anymore."

Ginny said, "Don't worry, my mom and dad started going together in their third year. I overheard them telling stories about what they did when dating. I'm sure I can get them to understand about us."

They continued to talk about events of the past day and at one point, they got to how they convinced Neville and Parvati that they had switched bodies.

Harry asked her, "Will you tell me what you said to Parvati to convince her?"

Ginny turned red and said, "It's sort of embarrassing, but since we're going together now I guess I can tell you. We were playing truth or dare, and Parvati asked me, when you stayed at the Burrow last summer, did you ever sneak into my room at night so we could snog."

Harry asked, "And did you tell her the truth; that I never did?"

Ginny said, "Yes, I had to. Lavender got hold of some mild truth serum somewhere and we all had to take a sip before we started the game."

Harry asked," So why is that embarrassing? At least she didn't ask if I came to your room to shag."

Ginny said, "Earlier in the game, Lavender already asked if we were shagging; everyone but Hermione was surprised I said no.

They all knew that I fancied you and that you saved me in the Chamber of Secrets; even though none of them except Hermione knew the true story about that. For the last year and a half, all the girls assumed we were together secretly and that was why you came to the Burrow every summer.

Because of the truth serum, I had to say you never came to my room at night; but, since nobody directly asked, I just let them think it was true about us being secretly together. That's why I was embarrassed to say it in front of you."

Harry opened her dressing gown, then said, "I guess you wearing that Quidditch shirt of mine to bed was part of what made them think we were together?"

Ginny turned red and said, "I'm sorry I took your shirt; but I wanted something to remind me of you saving me and it was there in the laundry."

Harry said, "It's okay, it was getting too small on me anyway; I'm glad you can use it."

Ginny smiled, then said, "Harry, we're still in our own bodies; we haven't snogged or touched since McGonagall got here."

Harry looked at his watch and said, "It's midnight, that's half an hour; I think maybe we're back permanently."

Ginny jumped at him and they snogged just as the door opened and Fred, George, and their dates Angelina, and Alicia came in.

George said, "Good thing we got here before Ron; he'd go around the twist if he saw you two snogging like that."

Ginny said, "We just realized we've been normal for more than a half an hour without touching."

Harry added, "McGonagall came here and caught us snogging. She ordered us to stay apart and we got talking and didn't even realize we were normal until now."

Angelina looked at Alicia, then at Fred and asked, "What are they talking about?"

He said, "It's a long sad story; why don't you girls come up to our room and we can talk about it."

Harry got a worried look and was about to remind the twins that they weren't supposed to tell anyone what happened. Before he could say anything, he heard Ginny say to him, "Don't worry, talking about us switching bodies is the last thing they're going to be doing tonight; get it?"

He said, "Ginny, you just told Angelina and Alicia what happened."

She looked at the two girls, but they didn't seem to have heard what she said; so she said to Harry, "Apparently the didn't hear me."

He answered, "I don't know how they couldn't have heard, they were only five feet away; unless Fred and George already told them so they weren't surprised."

George said, "What's with you two? I thought you said everything was back to normal?"

Harry said, "It is; we were just wondering if you told the girls about us since they didn't react to what Ginny said."

Fred said, "Ginny didn't say anything; …"

George went on, "… and neither did you. But both of you have …"

Fred picked up with, "… been making faces like something is wrong."

Harry said to Ginny, "The twins didn't hear us either; I wonder why."

She answered, "It has to be something about the curse, some left over effect."

George said, "There you go again, just standing there silent, making faces like you're sick."

Ginny said, "Harry, we can hear each other, but nobody else can hear us."

Harry said to her, "They have to be able to hear us, they did when we told them the curse reversed, and when I asked if they told Angelina and Alicia."

He said to Fred and George, "Are you saying you can't hear me or Ginny talking?"

George said, "Of course we can hear you talking; …"

Fred finished, "… but we want to know why you're making faces when you're not talking."

Harry thought quickly and said to them, "We're just surprised and happy to be back to normal. You can go up to your room; we want to see Hermione. I wonder why she isn't back yet?"

Fred said, "She was snogging Krum in the entrance hall, …"

George added, "… and when Ron saw them, he went around the twist."

Fred said, "When we left, they were …"

George finished, "… having a first class row."

The twins and their dates went up the boys' steps and Harry said to Ginny, "When we are talking to each other it is in our minds only; that's why they couldn't hear us. We only say things aloud when we mean to have someone else hear. Right now I didn't say anything aloud, but you heard me, didn't you?"

She thought to him, "Yes, not only can I hear you, I can sense what you're thinking about this. You think this is what the twins intended in the first place; for us to sense each other's thoughts and feelings."

Harry thought, "Well, isn't that what they said they intended?"

Ginny thought, "Yes, but Hermione said they mistranslated the curse."

Harry thought, "Maybe transferring souls was only part of it; Hermione said the last part with the warning was torn out. Maybe it was a warning about the two people sensing thoughts. 

Just then, the door opened and they heard Ron yell, "He's using you to learn what Harry knows about the clue; and if he can get in your knickers, that would just be a bonus for him."

Hermione came in all red in the face and yelled back, "Well getting into my knickers is something you'll never have to worry about Ronald."

Ginny thought to Harry, "I don't believe Ron said that to her."

Harry thought back, "I don't believe she said that to him. Do you think we should say something to them?"

Before Ginny could answer, Hermione noticed them on the divan and walked over. Ron came in after her, and about twenty other Gryffindors followed him; it seems they were following the pair to listen in on the row.

Hermione asked, "How is it going; any progress?"

Harry said, "Wait until everyone else is gone; we need to talk."

Ron yelled, "Where did you two go when you left the ball? Percy came over and asked me to find you; I looked everywhere, so where were you?"

Ginny answered, "If you want an answer, stop yelling."

Ron tensed up, then asked calmly, "So where were you?"

Harry said, "Right here; we didn't get much sleep last night because of …"

He looked at all the other people still there and continued, "Well you know why. So we were both knackered and decided to come back so we could talk about the situation."

Ron asked, "So what about it?"

Harry said, "Later, when we're alone."

Ginny said, "Why don't you go change into night clothes then come back; everyone else should be gone by then."

Ron and Hermione each went to their rooms; and the others, now that Ron and Hermione's row seemed to be over and there was nothing for them to overhear, also left.

Ten minutes later, Ron and Hermione had returned, Harry and Ginny took turns telling of what happened all night involving the reversal of the curse. They left out what they were doing when McGonagall caught them, thinking Ron would explode again.

Finally, they got to the part of them still being able to hear each other's thoughts.

Harry said, "We don't know if this will fade away like the body switch did, or if is permanent."

Hermione said, "Tomorrow after breakfast, I'll get Fred and George to come to the library and we'll look for another book with the curse. Hopefully the last page won't be missing and we'll get more information."

Ron waited for Hermione to finish, Harry presumed because he didn't want to restart the row. Then he asked, "So what about you two now that you're in your own bodies; do you still plan to see each other?"

Ginny said, "Yes Ron, Harry and I have become close because of this; and considering we still hear each other's thoughts, we will probably get closer yet."

Harry said, "Ron, you know I will never hurt Ginny; so we don't need you or any of your brothers trying to break us up or interfere in any way. I want us to stay friends; don't force me to choose between you and Ginny."

Ron answered him, "I know you wouldn't hurt Ginny, but it's hard for me not to try and protect her. I'll try not to interfere; but I just ask you not to do any snogging in front of me."

Ginny said, "We'll try not to, but no promises if you happen to walk in on us. And we might as well tell you now, McGonagall caught us snogging and gave us detention for a week."

Harry added, "And she said she was going to write your parents; so we could use your support. If they ask you about us, just tell them the truth; we fancy each other, but we're not doing anything inappropriate."

Ron said, "I tell them you're like any other couple; holding hands in the hall and that I never see you snogging. So don't make a liar out of me by actually let me see you snogging."

Harry said, "Good enough. Now we all better get some sleep."

Four days passed before Hermione came to them and said, "We found it; at least I think it's the same curse. I'll know for sure after I finish translating it.

The next day, she got them, Fred, George, and Ron together in the room where the twins first put the curse on Harry and Ginny.

She said, "I have good news and bad news. The good news is the soul transferring part of the curse is permanently gone; the warning was for the dark wizard, that he had to kill the person whose body he was sealing or the souls would revert to their correct bodies after one day.

And your touching and snogging wasn't necessary; your souls would have returned to your bodies even if you never touched. But I suppose neither of you are upset that you snogged for no reason."

Ginny said, "Hermione, there's always a reason for snogging; and I'll never get upset for doing it. You should try it and you'd know what I mean; I'm sure Ron would be willing to help you learn."

Ron got bright red, and Hermione smirked. She said, "The bad news is it doesn't mention hearing each other's thoughts at all; probably because the dark wizard who wrote the curse followed the warning and killed the other person. That means there's no way of knowing if hearing each other's thoughts will be permanent or fade away over time."

Harry thought to Ginny, "Do you mind if it's permanent; can you live with my thoughts in your head."

She thought back, "No problem for me, if you can live with my thoughts too."

He thought, "I think I may actually enjoy that; I never have anyone close to me before, and we can't get any closer than knowing each other's thoughts."

Aloud he said, "We agree we can live like this no problem; it might even be good.

In their minds, he thought silently to Ginny, "Now that we're so close you will be able to help me figure out the clue for the second task. Maybe by sending thought ideas to me, you can even help do the second task."


End file.
